Yesterday when I changed the bed sheets I added a blanket. It sure was cozy sleeping in the cooler nighttime temperatures.
But today it will get up into the high eighties, making last night feel like a dream. Perhaps it was.
If so I hope I have that same dream again tonight.
Cup Half Empty, Cup Half Full:
Do you ever look at a clump of weeds and see anything but just a clump of weeds?
In a galvanized bucket filled with nothing but dirt, these weeds cropped up. And then after a time so did the little yellow flower.
Now if you were a “cup half empty” type of person, you would look past the flower and just see weeds.
But if you’re a “cup half full” individual, you’d see the beauty of the flower. And I also see the beauty in the weeds. The symmetrical shape that resemble hearts meeting at the point.
I wasn’t always a “cup half full” person. I spent many years being the very opposite. Then I realized it was a mind set.
Why Your Mind Set Matters:
Your mindset matters because your entire experience of life depends on what’s going on inside your own head. Actually everything that you will ever do, have, or accomplish, will be seen through this lens.
So if you want to see a different story outside of you, then you have to start with the things you’re telling yourself on the inside.
How It Changes Your Life:
Once you fully grasp this concept, your whole world will change. As mine did.
Sun and shadow. Two sides of one thing. Coming into play when a decision is to be made.
Which brings to mind a poem by one of my favorite poets of all time, Robert Frost.
“The Road Not Taken”
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Seeing The Positive:
However, how could you say that the road you did take made all the difference? Because you couldn’t take both roads. So how could you possibly know that that road made all the difference?
Because why doubt yourself when the decision has already been made? That would be an exercise in futility. The decision is already a foregone conclusion. It is now in the rear view mirror.
So deciding for yourself that you took the right one is the sensible thing to do. Looking at it in the best possible light.
And that is the mind set.
Making Decisions:
That truly does make all the difference. Of course you can’t take both roads. It is impossible.
Still measuring with the cup half empty/cup half full analogy, decisions are easier to make. And whatever decision you make you will be more comfortable with. Because you tell yourself it is so.
Instead of lamenting that you should have gone the other way, you see light instead of dark. And it’s so much easier to walk into the light.
Remember the glass can be refilled. I read this and now that is what I go to when life is hard.
One of my favorite poems !
Thank you for blogging, Brenda !
When my glass starts getting low I usually write out a gratitude list. It helps me refill my glass whenever I need it.
Back to your fingers again. Let us know if they get better on their own. Or if you have to seek a Doctors advice.
My husband and I both have cups that are half full. But, we often forget where we sat down our cups. We get distracted by old memories of tougher times. But, fortunately, it doesn’t last too long. We smile at our blessings, such as our two cats, our yard full of sunflowers a few weeds, and our love of coffee and dark chocolate. We give thanks each day to not have to live with someone who thinks it’s their duty to point out our faults. Life is better and that is good.
Beautifully written.
Love the poem it’s one of my favorites I worked as a Librarian Assistant for years I enjoyed reading and still do I am a cup half full kind of gal always trying to be positive and happy have a great afternoon 😊
The more you know the more you can appreciate nature. For example those weeds with yellow flower are nitrogen fixers. They will improve the soil they grow in. Why I love being a science
Brenda, a very timely post, especially for the times we are living in. It is so easy to get caught up in all of the negativity and depressing things in the world. Your mindset and your attitude are absolutely life changing. Thank you for the reminder.
I was a “glass half empty” type of person. It took years to train myself to be a “glass half full” person. It has made such a positive difference in my life and I wish I had learned this sooner. The good thing is that I’m in a much better place now and that’s what counts.
To simply answer the question my cup is half full.
I do always always try to find something to be grateful for even if it is a lesson learned.
But most importantly is my cup is refillable.
Blessings to you,
Minnie
Hi Brenda,
That lovely little plant with the yellow flower is wood sorrel, it is delicious in salad.
It’s a nice free addition to your edible garden! Dale
Thanks for telling me.
Definitely a cup half full person, but I had to teach myself that lesson in my early teen years. I remember reading an article in a magazine, I want to say it was Mademoiselle – of all things – I remember it was a “woman’s magazine,” and I read the article, and I thought to myself “I can do that. I can change that tape that plays in my head.” It took practice and concentration but it worked. I came to realize that I was unique and achieved peace with myself for being my unique, own person who wasn’t a California beauty queen with blonde hair, and I was never going to be a cheerleader. I was a “brain” and a “dork” before those were “things,” I wanted to go to college and I wanted to be like “Della Street” (character from the old Perry Mason TV series), which in the mid-1960s was a change, when girls were still counting success as getting married within a year out of high school. I never looked back, and don’t regret changing that tape. And you know what, once you realize you can always change that tape at any time with a little effort, there is nothing to prevent anybody from changing the road they picked and heading down a new one.
I regret that I didn’t find my “cup half full” moment until much later. In my fifties. When I was divorced and away from the constant negativity the relationship spawned. But at least I did. Better late than never, right?
Ditto.
Absolutely! When you’re in a negative relationship somehow you lose yourself to that negativity and when it is removed from your life it is such a relief to find that “cup half full” person that you knew you always were!